1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus comprising an expendable member for use in forming an image, which is removably mounted to a main body of the image forming apparatus, and provided with a storing section in which information specific to the expendable member is previously stored, and control means for judging whether the expendable member is proper or not based on the specific information previously stored in the storing section of the expendable member.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional image forming apparatus, a developing apparatus is replenished with a developer in the following manner: when the ratio of a developer (T/D) in a developer tank of the developing apparatus decreases, the developer tank is replenished with a developer from a developer replenishing container, and the developer replenishing container is mounted to the image forming apparatus main body by the user.
In the case where a plurality of image forming apparatuses are placed close to each other, the kinds of developers used in the image forming apparatuses are often different. For example, even in the case where image forming apparatuses use the same photoconductors, the polarity of a developer used in an apparatus whose developing system is an analog system (regular rotation developing system) is opposite to the polarity of a developer used in an apparatus whose developing system is a digital system (reverse rotation developing system). Further, even in developers with the same polarity, the resistances of the developers depend on the components thereof (CCA, resin or the like) thereof due to electrification characteristics (saturation electrification amounts). Furthermore, in the case of an image forming apparatus which can form a color image, a developer used therein has a different hue.
In the case where the user mounts a developer replenishing container which contains a developer uninterchangeable among image forming apparatuses to a wrong image forming apparatus by mistake, a developing apparatus is replenished with a developer with different characteristics, and the developer with different characteristics causes a carrier rise and a developer burst. As a result, the developer scatters in the image forming apparatus, and a photoconductor is deteriorated.
In order to avoid such a problem, an image forming apparatus is proposed which comprises a developer replenishing container provided with a storing section which stores information specific to the developer replenishing container (information such as the kind of developer and the model of a proper image forming apparatus), and at the time of mounting a developer replenishing container to a developing apparatus of an image forming apparatus, it is judged whether the mounted developer replenishing container is proper or not based on the specific information stored in the storing section.
However, the image forming apparatus as described above has a problem that since all the specific information stored in the storing section are read when it is judged whether a mounted developer replenishing container is proper or not, even a developer replenishing container having been judged once needs to be judged to be proper or not based on all the specific information as well, and the judgement whether proper or not is not executed with efficiency.